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Key french sounds & spellings
This document provides an overview of key French sounds and spellings. It begins by introducing vowels and some tricky consonants. It then covers nasal phonemes, regular graphemes like ou and au, and graphemes that can have multiple sounds like ch. The document also discusses silent letters and the rules of elision and liaison when words are joined together. In under 3 sentences, it summarizes the main phonetic elements of French covered in the text.
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Key french sounds & spellings
- 1. KEY FRENCH SOUNDS& SPELLINGS (A VERY GENERAL & SIMPLIFIED REFERENCE) Prior learning: Following on from the alphabet! Jo Rhys-Jones, November 2011 Talkabout Primary Languages
- 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS: vowels tricky consonants nasal phonemes on/an/en, in/ain/ein regular graphemes ou, au/eau, gn, ph graphemes which make more than one sound silent letters elision & liaison
- 3. VOYELLES: a e é è-ê i-y o u
- 4. A a chat
- 5. E – SAMESOUND MADE BY EU / ŒU le me e ne je neuf œuf deux
- 6. É – SAMESOUND MADE BY ER/EZ décembre é regarder levez la main! café bébé éléphant
- 7. È-Ê SAME SOUND MADE BY AI/EI/ET è-ê tête frère pêche père mère zèbre
- 8. I-Y dix i-y six Yvonne stylo lit bicyette
- 9. o - SAMESOUND MADE BY O O – CAN ALSO BE A SHORT Ô/AU/EAU SOUND piano carotte vélo, pot, hôtel, pomme, bol, beau, chaud docteur
- 10. U Put your finger in your mouth like a lollipop. u Remove your finger but keep your lips still. Without moving your lips, try to say ‘ee’ That is the French sound ‘u’. sucette
- 11. TRICKY CONSONANTS: c g h s t w y
- 12. c SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E OR I USUALLY A HARD SOUND same sound as ç cinéma carotte police, France, cent, crayon, sac, café, cinq, délicieux, banc, caméra... garçon...
- 13. g SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E USUALLY A HARD SOUND OR I gorille garage gomme, guitare, pigeon, orange, genou, catalogue, regarder... girafe,
- 14. H IS SILENT h thé héros hôtel
- 15. s HARD WHEN BETWEEN 2 USUALLY A SOFT SOUND VOWELS poisson oiseau sac, soupe, cuisine, visite, classe, danser... rose, musique, chemise
- 16. t USUALLY THE SAME EXCEPTIONS – CAN CHANGE TO S SOUND WHEN SOUND AS IN ENGLISH FOLLOWED BY I tomate dictionnaire tulipe, tarte, direction, addition, moto, minute... patience, essentiel… Do these words make a normal t sound in
- 17. W IS ONLYUSED IN WORDS THAT ARE BORROWED FROM OTHER LANGUAGES w - MAKES THE SAME SOUND AS IN ENGLISH kiwi wagon EXCEPT: le wc
- 18. y BUT SAME SOUND AS IN USUALLY SAME SOUND ENGLISH WHEN BETWEEN 2 AS FRENCH I VOWELS stylo crayon Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy joyeux, loyal, lycée, pyjama... incroyable, voyage…
- 19. NASAL PHONEMES, : on/an/en Purists will rightly argue there is a very subtle difference between on and an/en but it’s highly unlikely to be noticable up to GCSE level so I leave that to teacher discretion and the level of your class… in/ain/ein
- 20. ON/AN/EN: ALSO OM/AM/EM bonjour on danse om an dentiste tombola lampe am en chambre décembre em mouton enfants
- 21. IN/AIN/EIN: ALSO IM vin in intelligent ain train demain lapin im ein peinture important pain ceinture
- 22. REGULAR GRAPHEMES: ou e/eu/oeu oi é/ez/er au/eau/ô è/ai/ei/et ph gn
- 23. OU: ALWAYS MAKESTHE SAME SOUND ou bouche souris moutarde
- 24. E/EU/ŒU: ALWAYS MAKETHE SAME SOUND le e me ne eu je neuf œu œuf deux
- 25. OI: ALWAYS MAKESTHE SAME SOUND oi trois étoile histoire
- 26. É/EZ/ER: MAKE THESAME SOUND décembre é levez la main! nez ez janvier er café jouer
- 27. AU/EAU/Ô: MAKE THESAME SOUND o hôtel jaune moto ô oiseau au eau bateau taureau
- 28. È/Ê/AI/EI/ET: ALL MAKETHE SAME SOUND è frère fête ê chaise baleine ai neige Paul et Liliane ei et robinet j’aime
- 29. PH: MAKES THESAME SOUND AS FRENCH F ph téléphone alphabet éléphant
- 30. GN: ALWAYS MAKESTHE SAME SOUND gn araignée signal champignon
- 31. GRAPHEMES WITH MORETHAN ONE SOUND: ch ill ail/eil/euil/ouil
- 32. ch BUT HARD SOUND WHEN A USUALLY A SOFT GREEK WORD – OFTEN SOUND: BEFORE R OR L Chef Chrétien Charlotte, marché, chat orchestre, chœur, champagne, chocolat... chronique, technique…
- 33. ill SOME EXCEPTIONS WHEN USUALLY A SOFTENED THE L SOUND IS SOUND: PRONOUNCED: Famille Million fille, vanille, gorille village, ville, mille gentille, habiller… tranquille
- 34. AIL/EIL/EUIL/OUIL: MAKE SIMILARY SOUND AT THE END abeille ail eil travail bouteille euil soleil feuille ouil nouille médaille bouillir
- 35. Silent letters USUALLY THEFINAL BUT THE LETTERS B C F K L CONSONANT IS NOT Q R USUALLY ARE PRONOUNCED: PRONOUNCED: mouton club éléphant, lit, lapin snob, flic, chef, anorak trois, froid, abricot… avril, cinq, hiver Exceptions: ours, sud, autobus, tennis, Exceptions: blanc, porc, clef, -er infinitives some names,
- 36. ELISION/LIAISON: when aword that ends in a normally silent consonant is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, then the consonant is pronounced – usually... petit le petit éléphant
Editor's Notes
- #36 Ican not includeevery exception here, sojust the mostcommon.